On Thursday, in what were his first public comments since the shooting, 50 had also emphasized that the inflammatory comments in “Piggy Bank” were nothing out of the ordinary and denied the shooting had anything to do with rap battles.

Appearing with G-Unit member Olivia on BET’s “106 & Park,” he compared himself to a boxing champ whose title everybody wants. “Where I’m from is aggressive,” 50 said. “I was taught to be aggressive, so I say these things.”

Downplaying the threat of possible violent retaliation resulting from “Piggy Bank,” 50 said, “A lot of things you hear out there is being said for shock value and not really as serious as people make it out to be.”

Claiming to be unimpressed with the responses of the MCs he targeted (see “Jadakiss, Fat Joe Slicing Their 50 Cent Beef Different Ways”
), he continued, saying, “The media gets it and they try to do what they can do with it to make money off of it and make it look as bad as possible. But hip-hop has always been competitive, and they should always look forward to us getting back and forth with words.”

The “back and forth” that started with “Piggy Bank” includes calling Fat Joe “That fat n—a,” telling Jadakiss that “I’ll do your little ass like Jay did Mobb Deep,” and mocking Nas’ marriage to singer Kelis: “Kelis says her milkshake bring all the boys to the yard/ Then Nas went and tattooed the bitch on his arm.” As the song closes, 50 — who is pictured on the album’s cover artwork surrounded by 23 guns — dares his verbal targets to “do something now”: “You gotta so do something/ C’mon, man, everybody’s listening.”

Before 50’s appearance on “106 & Park,” a member of his entourage was arrested on weapons charges in front of the CBS building where the show is taped, CBS News reports, for allegedly carrying a concealed knife.

For an in-depth conversation with 50 and a recap of this week’s events, check out “All Eyes on 50 Cent: The Sequel” Saturday, March 5, at 3 p.m. ET on MTV.